[Flight Report] LH4243 Paris - Munich

[hkskyline]

Lufthansa AG : LH4243

Paris Charles de Gaulle - Munich

Scheduled Departure : 1115

Flight Time : about 1 hour

Equipment : CR1

There was a huge lineup at Charles de Gaulle Terminal 1. Although the crowd wasn't big at all, the terminal itself was very small, and it was a Saturday, so a lot of people were heading out of town for the weekend. Most of the check-in area was busy, and I waited for 45 minutes before I could check in.

Lufthansa only had about 4 counters for check-in, and they were all open. Unfortunately, since I had a big bag to check in, I couldn't use the self-service to bypass the line. There was a big glob of people, and I didn't know which glob belonged to which. After a bit of stumbling around, I found the right line.

This is a very old sign. The letters flip just like the old billboard at Kai Tak. See the 1115 Munich flight? Check-in at hall 6.

Terminal 1 is quite old, and it shows when you look at the windows and chairs carefully.

It took a while for the plane to taxi for takeoff. The CR is a small plane, but it was a full flight. Perhaps it was a good thing that I had to line up for so long, because Lufthansa gave me a free upgrade to business class, which was quite odd because I was already travelling for free to Munich.

Departing Paris on a cloudy morning :

Business class consists of 3 rows at the front of the plane with a small curtain separating the economy class passengers. The seats were the same and there was no on-board entertainment. However, we got a hot kleenex and a lot of food. I was constantly being asked whether I needed more drinks, and the FA kept an eye on all of us business class passengers.

The skies started clearing out over Germany.

Here is a view of the CR jet. It had to park on the tarmac at Munich and passengers were bused to the main terminal.

Overall Comments

I was quite surprised that I got bumped to business class. Maybe it was a good thing because I was running low on euros and I was worried about what to eat for lunch that day in Germany. The feast I had on board kept me full for quite a while, but I notice the prices at the restaurants in Munich were quite reasonable.

Service was OK. We were constantly being taken care of by the FA. The flight itself was quite smooth, even during takeoff as we left a cloudy Paris. Lufthansa's FAs are quite young, and they always give you a smile. Although they are a German airline, English is not a problem both in the air and on the ground in Germany.